SDG Centre

Objectives

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an ambitious commitment by world leaders which set out a universal and an unprecedented agenda which embraces economic, environmental and social aspects of the wellbeing of societies. The progress of the world to meet the SDGs, largely depends on India’s progress. India played a prominent role in the formulation of SDGs and much of the country’s National Development Agenda is mirrored in the SDG’s Sustainable Development Goals Center (SDG Center) at Presidency University, Bangalore which will focus on research, consultancy and training on SDGs with specific focus on Bangalore Rural District as a sample demography for clusters. The university mandate states that it will be focusing on rural development through rural engagement which could be achieved through research, consultancy and training in SDGs. The mission of the research center is to create a center for trans-disciplinary work to enhance rural development by focusing on sustainable developing goals (SDGs). The major objectives of the center: to conduct research, consultancy and training on SDGs (especially on but not limited to SDG 8, livelihood and wellbeing, water and gender),to initiate programs for rural engagement and social outreach activities ,to enable and empower the marginalized and weaker sections of the society through skills development, To link the issue of climatic change to rural agrarian economy of Karnataka and bring forth policy changes to support agrarian communities ,To establish partnerships and collaborations with global, regional and local organizations/institutions working on SDGs for research, consultancy and training.

The Context

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 states in some areas, progress is insufficient to meet the Agenda’s goals and targets by 2030.This is especially true for the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups. Youth are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults. Less than half of all children and adolescents meet minimum standards in reading and mathematics. Close to 1 billion mostly rural people still lack electricity. And, while some forms of discrimination against women and girls are declining, gender inequality continues to hold women back and deprives them of basic rights and opportunities. Conflict, climate change and growing inequalities add additional challenges. The SDG Center through research, training and consultancy try to address these gaps

The Practice

Presidency University implemented outreach activities and research activities to address these gaps in SDG Goals achievement

• Know your Goals Initiative : A group of 15 students along with faculty visited the Kakolu Government High School; Bangalore, India spent more than a couple of hours sharing the 17 goals of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Solutions Network, with examples from everyday life. The post graduate students worked on a presentation with visual aids like charts and spoke in Kannada – the local language and the medium of instruction in the school that they visited. They also conducted a drawing/sketching competition after the presentation. The children in the school were in the age bracket of 12 to 16 and came from the 22 villages around the school. Their parents are mostly illiterate and work hard for a meagre existence. The group made up of about 150 children displayed a mature understanding of the goals themselves and what it would entail to work towards them post the presentation. On being asked which goal would be of primary importance to them, the children chose goals ranging from Gender Equality, No Poverty, Good Health and Well Being which were perhaps the issues that they were facing as well directly or indirectly.
• Clean Nandi Hills initiative : Group of 70 students led by the faculty visited the Nandi Hills – a place of natural beauty which has played a prominent role in the history of Karnataka and a popular tourist spot to clean the place of all dry waste. About 100 kgs of dry waste was collected and handed over to the Nandi Hills waste collection center in line with the direction from Nandi Hills authorities. The Nandi Hills administration was moved by the initiative, and issued a letter of appreciation to the university and gifted a picture directory of Nandi Hills to the university library.

· Research Project funded by Presidency University Titled “Techno-social survey & design of youth up-skilling in selected rural clusters” is under progress. The study directly contribute towards the SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) . Based on the study the up skilling needs among rural youth of Karnataka are identified. They pertain to mostly bridging the gap between new technology and process with traditional methods. The rural young farmers skill up gradation requirements ranges from skills in online sales of farm produce , cheap renewable energy , information on high yield variety seeds and farming technology. In the third phase of the project we would be training rural youth on online sales of farm produce , assembling solar panels and best practices on grape farming by July 2019

· Research Project funded by Presidency University Titled “A Study on Environmental Transformations and Livelihood Strategies of Horticultural Communities in Peri-Urban Bangalore: As part of the project we worked with grape farmers, vegetable farmers and floriculture farms. We found the grape variety ‘Bangalore Blue’, a geographical indicator of this region declining. Plant disease are increasing in the region. Hale storms are effecting the quality of grapes which leads to reduction in price.

SDG Centre at Presidency University